Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has backed an under-fire Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli, saying that it will be interesting to see how he comes back after a heavy defeat.
RCB, after getting off to a winning start in the IPL, suffered a 97-run loss against Kings XI Punjab. Kohli’s modest returns with the bat – 14 and 1 – and some of his decisions as a captain were questioned. Pietersen however said Kohli is a showman and he will find a way to bounce back.
“I think that I am going to stick with where I was at the start of the tournament. Talking about a guy like Virat Kohli, you are talking about his showmanship and where he likes to play the game. And, his ability to accept the energy of the ground,” Pietersen said on Star Sports.
Pietersen agreed that Kohli hasn’t started the tournament well but he has done well to own it up.
“He hasn’t started very well at all. And he accepts that, and he even said at the press conference, accepting the responsibility of some of the stuff that he has been doing. So, he is man enough to accept his responsibility and I am still very interested to see how a guy like him makes a comeback,” Pietersen said.
“He is the best of the best when it comes to batting has the best showmanship of the sport. But there is no spectators and a showman needs spectators. So, at the moment, he is not very good, and he accepts that. But it will be very interesting to see if that graph does move and he gets used to playing. It will be the most interesting feature of this IPL to see Kohli with no crowds.”
